Terms and Conditions, do I have to give a refund or not?

[Lady Murasaki]

As per the poster above, I also appreciate that this is an old post, but still feel what I have to post is relevent.

To the OP, you need to start giving brides contracts to sign for trial deposits & wedding day deposits.

When you take a 50% non refundable deposit the contract should state your T&Cs, time you start/finish, cancellation policy, when final payment are due and including a break down how many services they are paying for etc and get them to sign it..

Without this as you have found out you might not have a leg to stand on, when they cancel and want their money back as they can claim you never told them it was non refundable.

I have had never had a bride refuse to sign a contract and if one did I wouldnt book them.

I bring thier signed contract with me to the trial session and on the wedding day its self, just in case i need to 'refer back to it' with client.

Having a bridal contract also shows to the prospective client that you are organised, professional, are open about the terms of your business and wont be messed about.

HTH

 

[Verve Designs]

I know this is an older post too but I have to point out that having the T&C's on your website isn't good enough.

You have to ensure your terms are firmly and implicitly outlined to the customer and have them available at the point of sale.

Print off a brief terms and conditions sheet at home and give them to people. For extra security, get them to sign it.

If you're going to be professional enough to charge people for your services, you ought to run it professionally also and not on an implied "ad-hoc" basis.

*I typed this out and didn't read the post above...which is 100% correct.

Also, I often think in situations like this (where you've not "covered" yourself) its easy to knee-jerk a reaction and dig your heels in over "morality". The fact is, for the sake of a few quid, is this the kind of client who would pro-actively damage you in terms of bad-mouthing you to people? Might you lose more potential clients in the long run? Take a strategic view instead of an (understandable) emotional one.

 

[Lady Murasaki]

+1 she should refund, but given the fact she cancelled due to being able to get a friend to do it for free (providing there was no fault with the service she provided during the trial), she could offer to refund her, but with vouchers worth £70.00 rather than in money.

This due to reason given for cancellation as she was happy enough with the service you provided in the first place to book you, and had the friend not offered her services for free the chances are you would still have the booking.